Why QoEPro exists
Buyers and sellers in the lower middle market were often forced to choose between a $25,000+ diligence engagement and going into a transaction without enough financial analysis. For many deals, neither option made much sense.
I also knew what frustrated me about working in M&A: Slow communication, unclear timelines, and too much distance between the person who sold the engagement and the person actually doing the work.
So I built the kind of firm I would want to hire myself.
QoEPro provides focused financial diligence with clear scope, transparent pricing, responsive communication, and direct access to the person responsible for the analysis. The goal is not to produce the longest report. It is to identify the issues that can actually affect value, price, structure, working capital, or the decision to do the deal at all.
I learned M&A from the buyer's side first.
My first real transaction reps came at a private equity backed consolidator. I analyzed more than 200 acquisition targets and supported more than 40 completed acquisitions representing over $200 million in enterprise value. During that period, the portfolio grew from roughly 15 locations to nearly 100.
I worked across the acquisition process, from pre-LOI analysis and valuation through financial due diligence, deal structuring, and post-close integration.
That experience still shapes how I approach Quality of Earnings work today.
The accounting matters, but the transaction is the point.
A diligence finding is only useful if you understand what it means for the buyer, seller, lender, purchase agreement, valuation, or negotiation.
The IRS changed how I think about evidence.
I later served as a Financial Analyst and Business Valuation Specialist with the Internal Revenue Service.
The work required a different level of documentation and discipline. My analyses had to be defensible in audits, litigation, and matters that could ultimately reach U.S. Tax Court.
I was never called to testify, but I prepared my work knowing that someone on the other side might eventually try to take it apart.
That is a useful habit in Quality of Earnings.
If an addback matters, where is the support?
If revenue looks unusual, can we reconcile it?
If EBITDA improved sharply, why?
If management says an expense is nonrecurring, does the history agree?
I would rather find the weak point in an argument myself than have the other side find it later.
60+ Quality of Earnings engagements.
I have completed more than 60 QoE engagements and analyzed hundreds of privately held businesses across M&A, valuation, and advisory work.
My experience includes veterinary care, healthcare, restaurants, manufacturing, franchises, HVAC, landscaping, food manufacturing, professional services, and other owner-operated businesses. Most of the companies I work with fall somewhere around $2 million to $40 million in revenue.
The books are rarely perfect. Sometimes the owner runs personal expenses through the company. Sometimes revenue recognition is inconsistent. Sometimes an addback makes sense but is poorly documented. Sometimes the accounting is fine and the real problem is the economics of the business.
That is why I do not treat a QoE as a checklist.
Not a checkbox exercise.
There are a few questions I care about on nearly every deal.
What is the business actually earning?
How much of the proposed adjusted EBITDA holds up?
Does reported revenue reconcile to the evidence?
What level of working capital does the business actually need?
Are there costs that disappear after closing, or costs the buyer will need to add?
And ultimately, does any of it change the economics of the deal?
That is the job. The report is how I communicate the answer.
What it is like to work with me
M&A is stressful enough without wondering for two days whether your advisor saw your email.
I communicate quickly and directly. If I see an issue, I tell you. If something does not make sense, I ask about it. And when the report is finished, I do not simply send it over and disappear.
When useful, I will get on the phone with your attorney, CPA, lender, broker, or other advisors and work through the findings with them. I want to be useful to the deal team, not just produce a report.
Why I enjoy this work
One reason I have stayed drawn to M&A is that it is inherently optimistic. People buy businesses because they believe in what those businesses can become. Owners sell businesses after spending years building something another person now wants to own. Investors put capital at risk because they believe there is an opportunity worth pursuing.
I like working around people who are building things.
Choose the path that fits the deal.
See the scope and next step for your side of the transaction, or schedule a call if you want to talk through the situation first.